why is there no medication for anxiety

if you go for treatment at your gp, they’ll just give you antidepressants that they say work for anxiety or beta blockers. but there’s soo much for depression. and the actual anti anxiety medications can’t be prescribed because they’re addictive. it’s a long term condition and scientists still haven’t found a calming medication that isn’t addictive. why is that? i never hear people saying scientists are putting so much work to find treatment for anxiety and only for anxiety.

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Reply 1

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

Antidepressants help with anxiety? That's why they're prescribed? Yeah they're called antidepressants but that's because it was their first widespread usage, it wasn't even their intended purpose. Most meds used to treat psychological disorders were originally intended for something else, and they found it had a beneficial effect on the psychological state of test participants. If they have a functioning treatment, why wouldn't they prescribe it? The addictive things you're talking about obviously can't be prescribed, and due to the nature of those medications its unlikely they'd be able to find a non-addictive version. Therefore, they don't have a base to work with, which makes any progress in the field very difficult.

In general the field of finding psychiatric drugs hasn't had any major breakthroughs in recent years, for anxiety or otherwise. That's why its not common to hear about.

I'm just a bit confused on what your point is. They have medications they can prescribe for anxiety, that were originally intended for depression, yes, but that doesn't negate their effects? Would you rather they prescribe the addictive stuff?

Reply 2

Anonymous #1

Original post by Anonymous

there should be anti anxiety medications that are specific for anxiety. because what will people who have tried anti depressants do after? i’ve tried antidepressants for it and it just uplifted my mood and didn’t calm me down.

anxiety is as worse as cancer, there should be a lot more work going into it.

Reply 3

Anonymous #1

there aren’t anti anxiety meds. just anti depressants... there should be just medication to calm people down and not also to uplift the mood because the antidepressants just raise the mood and dont focus on the panic attacks

Reply 4

MadameRazz

Original post by Anonymous

medication isn’t the be all end all for mental health. people feeling like they need medication to “prove” they have a mental illness is far too popular nowadays. talk therapies are very helpful and people should do that before they start needing medication and relying on it. also, that last line is a little.... yeah. out of line to be honest.

Reply 5

Anonymous #1

it mentions benzodiazepines but they’re addictive so they don’t get prescribed

Reply 6

Anonymous #1

Original post by MadameRazz

how is it out of line??? anxiety is one of the worst things to feel. you’re completely out of line saying i’m trying to prove something. you know what you’re triggering me i’m not going to respond to this thread anymore

Reply 7

CoolCavy

Volunteer Team

There are, beta blockers and antidepressants are effective for a lot of people. As with all medications they dont work for everyone and it is often trial and error to find the ones that work best for that individual.
Ultimately though things like this are best treated with therapy, there are plenty of conditions that are awful and dont respond to medication that brilliantly. I have one of them which is borderline personality disorder, antipsychotics can help stabilise mood but ultimately DBT is what has the best proven track record of helping manage symptoms as it equips you with tools to do so. Medication is only really meant to be a short term solution to behavioural disorders, for things like bipolar which are mostly chemical people are often on them long term as therapies arent that effective. Medication isnt going to get to the root cause of the issue and tackle it.
Ask your GP for a referral, if you dont want to do that you can refer through IAPT. I agree that MH conditions are lacking in terms of treatments but that is more in regards to the waitlists and funding. I do feel you but also anxiety and depression is relatively well understood by the public compared to things like schizophrenia and personality disorders which require more specialist therapy (so longer waits) and are vilified by society.
There is improvements to be made but in general having anxiety is well emphathised with in the current day and age and there are services that will help you if you self refer to them.

Reply 8

MadameRazz

Original post by Anonymous

it is out of line. and i’m not saying you’re trying to “prove” anything, but the way you seem really desperate for medication is concerning.

Reply 9

Anonymous #1

my gp told me that the nhs aren’t allowed to prescribe benzos for long term. so many of nhs professionals have told me this so you better be careful.

Reply 10

Anonymous #2

Original post by Anonymous

There is a huge amount of work going into it, but as i said its incredibly difficult to develop new drug treatments for any disorders, and there hasn't been much progress made in at least a decade. I don't think it's fair to compare physical and mental illnesses, especially considering that anxiety can be treated with therapy. As I said, you seem to be assuming that antidepressants are drugs that exclusively treat depression and psychiatrists figured they sort of work for anxiety: they usually work similarly well for both disorders, they just are named for one.

There is definitely a lack of practical treatments available, but I think it's unfair to assume there is no work being done to find them.

Reply 11

Anonymous #1

Original post by MadameRazz

it is out of line. and i’m not saying you’re trying to “prove” anything, but the way you seem really desperate for medication is concerning.

well maybe it’s because i’m sick of feeling like absolute crap all the time because of my extreme anxiety. maybe try to be a bit more understanding smh

Reply 12

SerenElizabeth1

Original post by Anonymous

I'm on Citalopram for my anxiety and panic disorders ad my depression, seems to work just fine for all of them. People have different bodies and they react differently to certain medications, you just have to find what works for you I guess.

Reply 13

Anonymous #1

Original post by MadameRazz

it is out of line. and i’m not saying you’re trying to “prove” anything, but the way you seem really desperate for medication is concerning.

and no it isn’t out of line. you have no idea what you’re talking about. people kill themselves because of that and youre telling me that i’m being out of line?

Reply 14

MadameRazz

Original post by Anonymous

well maybe it’s because i’m sick of feeling like absolute crap all the time because of my extreme anxiety. maybe try to be a bit more understanding smh

yes and therapy is what i would strongly recommend.

Reply 15

Anonymous #1

Original post by MadameRazz

yes and therapy is what i would strongly recommend.

if you read, youve would’ve known i’ve tried therapy

Reply 16

MadameRazz

Original post by Anonymous

and no it isn’t out of line. you have no idea what you’re talking about. people kill themselves because of that and youre telling me that i’m being out of line?

i do know what i’m talking about. there’s no need to compare it to cancer or say its worse than cancer. there are ways to help anxiety, but if someone has terminal cancer there isnt much that can be done and quite frankly your comment is largely insensitive.

Reply 17

MadameRazz

Original post by Anonymous

if you read, youve would’ve known i’ve tried therapy

how many therapists have you seen? what kinds of therapy? why didn’t it work for you?

Reply 18

Joleee

anxiety is psychological. you think taking a pill will make me forget my trauma? how?

medication including antidepressants are not designed to cure your mh issue, it's just to make life more livable. i love my beta blockers and don't know how i would live without them.

Reply 19

CoolCavy

Volunteer Team

Original post by MadameRazz

I do agree with you here, my parent had leukemia and it was an awful experience. I can see the point of view that it would be more palatable to have something you can easily identify and have 'cut out' rather than having to work long and hard in therapy but as i learned more about this (i used to feel similarly) cancers are so varied that even if you cut out a tumour it can spread to other parts of the body and chemotherapy seems just as grueling as MH therapies and drugs. What does frustrate me about cancer is how much publicity it gets (look at the race for life for instance) however i would argue that anxiety and depression gets around about as much coverage now as things like breast cancer. Uni mental health days and international MH days often focus on depression and anxiety and those two things alone. As someone with a serious MH condition that is neither it does feel you get ignored. I imagine that is how people with prostrate cancer feel about breast cancer awareness though. The core issue is that depression and anxiety are easier for people to conceptualise than things like schizophrenia if you have never experienced it.
I dont think it helps to say one is worse than another especially if you havent experienced the other, there are legitimate points to be made about awareness but from my own perspective at least there does seem to be a lot of awareness and sympathy about anxiety whereas people with less common MH issues are still called evil and manipulative. Comparison doesnt help someone to feel better but it is important to also have perspective.